FMR Finally Makes Good On Promises

"A fantastic moment for everyone involved, not only the players out there today but also for those that started the ball rolling back when I arrived... which feels like an eternity in all honesty. I'm also chuffed for the likes of Bergkamp, Lang and Henry who from the day I arrived, showed they had something extra special, the like of which I had not seen in my short time managing before. I have always mentioned their names amongst the greats of the RMI and now they finally have their chance to go toe to toe with the best!

The plan was always to arrive in the top flight this coming season, with Henry, Lang and Bergkamp almost at their peak development and have two or three cracks at the title before they retire. To actually reach our goal on schedule and see the whole thing become a reality is fantastic! As for next seasons hopes... I have not had a chance to look further than beyond this point in all honesty, all my focus has been on getting to here... certainly it will not be easy and we haven’t set any targets yet. What I can say is we are very serious about doing the best we can and as such have decided to sit out the pre season cup this year and focus entirely on the club and the squad, it has no benefits for the team and is sadly a luxury this club cannot afford looking at the task that lies ahead of us.

We haven’t attained any silverware to date and obviously some will judge us on those merits, but i personally feel we have done something more than put a trophy in the cabinet...Gooners was a great team going nowhere, had this team received the tlc I have simply provided I’m sure there would already be a few trophies already in the cabinet. The speed of the turnaround for me says it all... these are players that just needed their chance to shine and have made much of my job very simple. Sadly my arrival came too late for some and there was also one or two we had to sacrifice along the way, who I wish were here to share the moment. The clubs future has been dramatically changed whilst achieving at least some form of success in the way of top flight football. We didn’t say that’s it this lot are past it and start over, the club kept faith in the key players here and rebuilt around them gradually while maintaining pace with the other top clubs in the league. To combine the two things is not so simple and it makes this final promotion seem that much sweeter.

When you look at our skill ratings, performance ratings etc we are never even at the races... it is our average ratings that are key... it is team work and desire to win that has got us this far. We had exceptional players and all I have attempted to do is add to them, whilst keeping that desire to win. There are no passengers at Gooners, it is my philosophy that every player should be contributing something, whether it be goals, assists or defensive player ratings well above their skill level... there are many ways to look at this game and my focus is geared towards post match performance ratings rather than a players standard skill rating. Every first team player we had here has been given ample opportunity to play well consistently and if they cannot then we move them on. Consistency is the key!

I would always take a seven skill player who plays a ten consistently and scores ten goals a season... over a ten skill player who plays inconsistently and scores one or two if at all in his entire career(it is something throughout the team which is noticeable at Gooners). I have said many times Bergkamp is the heart and soul of the club and the team may never be the same the day he retires, he is the standard by which I compare all others! It is also nice to know exactly what to expect from the eleven you pick, and that helps massively when deciding exactly how far to push the opposition, hence why we never change things dramatically.

The point is... that is why in my opinion we have been able to keep pace or stay above what are clearly stronger squads and nothing will change. Yes I could off load Busquets and Fabregas after the change report and possibly match anything in the top flight skill wise. That’s not our style though and we will be looking only to let one player leave and we are hoping to bring in two. It is no secret we are looking at our keeper options and we are already watching a certain midfielder closely... whether we can prise him away remains to be seen.

As for the end of this season, nothing much changes here also... I feel we gave it our best shot but for a couple of badly timed injuries things could have been very different... but I feel now is time to focus on certain players rather than the title. Of course anything can and usually does happen but we won’t be sending out our strongest eleven in either of the remaining fixtures... far from it. Greatness has been a great competitor and I am sure whoever wins the title will have deserved it, and we look forward to playing them again next season.”